Last Saturday was my thirtieth birthday. My Mom asked me what I wanted for dinner. Given my typical enthusiasm for cooking, she was probably surprised when I came up with a request: minestrone. Mom made a fabulous minestrone when I was younger and I wanted it again. I don't think she had made it since we lived in New Jersey (late 80's and early 90's). It did need some tweaking to get rid of the required chicken and beef broth, but it turned out great. I'll post the recipe later.
However, I couldn't resist staying out of the kitchen. I made an olive tapenade and a mushroom and almond pate. The olive tapenade consisted of about 2/3 a c. each green olives and black olives, 2 T. of capers, and a couple cloves of garlic. I also put in some fresh thyme and cracked red pepper, plus olive oil for texture. Whir in the food processor until it's your desired texture and you're done!
For the mushroom and almond pate, I followed a C'est La Vegan recipe, but added some of my own tweaks. Here is a link to the original recipe, which is great on its own: http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/07/mushroom-pate/
I used a bit more of everything listed and added a few tablespoons of sherry. I didn't have fancy mushrooms, so I just used creminis. It tastes good the first day, but the second day, it's better (so hide it!).
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